Trump rhapsodies about India, bemoans decline of America

Like him or loathe him, the flamboyant and controversial US Republican party’s presidential front runner Donald Trump seems to love India. Known for his polarising views on a range of issues, Mr Trump has spoken on India for the first time after he entered the presidential race. He said that the country is doing great and no one is talking about it. Compared to that, the US, the world’s sole superpower, is rapidly becoming a laughing stock, according to the headline-hunting US politician.

“India is doing great,” Mr Trump told the CNN in an interview on January 25. He has been openly critical about many countries like China, Mexico and Japan in many of his speeches in the recent past.

“That was the beginning of China. That was the beginning of India, when India — by the way, India is doing great. Nobody talks about it. And I have big jobs going up in India. But India is doing great,” Mr Trump said.

“Look at everything I told you. Everything I told you is all right, whether it’s Iraq, whether it’s Iran, whether it’s China, whether it’s India, whether it’s Japan,” Mr Trump said. Taking a jibe at US’ declining power, he said “Just look at this country. We have gone from this tremendous power that was respected all over the world to somewhat of a laughing stock”.

After the historic India-US civil nuclear deal, the partnership between India and US has transformed in the last decade. Though the partnership has gained momentum irrespective of which party is in power in the US, analysts in India have viewed the Republican-led administrations as more favourably disposed towards India. If Donald Trump goes on to win the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential race, Indian policy makers will take a closer look at what approach Mr Trump would take towards India.

“All of a sudden, people are talking about China and India and other places, even from an economic standpoint. America has come down a long way, a long way. The United States has come down a long way, and it’s very, very sad. We’re not respected,” Mr Trump said. His views on the decline in American power are set to ignite a debate among pundits in the US and abroad.

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